The Republican who finished a close second to U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta in last year’s 1st District U.S. House primary is considering running for the seat again – regardless of whether Guinta vacates the seat or runs for re-election.

WMUR.com has learned that former University of New Hampshire business school dean Dan Innis has been hearing increasingly from supporters since a Federal Election Commission conciliation agreement with Guinta was issued in mid-May. The agreement included FEC findings that Guinta broke campaign finance law by taking “excessive” campaign contributions from his parents.

Interest in another Innis candidacy has intensified in the past day with the release of the full investigative file, in which Guinta’s mother appears to contradict the congressman’s claim that $355,000 he loaned his campaign in 2010 was his own money and not his parents’.

Since losing to Guinta by a 49 to 41 percent in the 2014 congressional primary, Innis had not been intensively focusing on his own future in elective politics. He has been involved in academics at the University of New Hampshire, The Hotel Portsmouth, which he owns, and he took on the role of chairman of the state Republican Party’s Finance Committee.

But on Wednesday, Innis told WMUR.com, “I’ve heard from political and financial supporters who have encouraged me to take a look at this seat again, and it is something I am considering, yes."

Innis said his consideration of running again for the seat includes the possibility of taking on Guinta in a primary in 2016.

“I have run in a primary against Congressman Guinta in the past, and it was a close race, so that is certainly on the table.”

Although Innis is a member of the state GOP’s executive committee, he was out of town and was not among those who voted in favor of a statement the committee released on May 18 that stopped short of calling on Guinta to resign.

Last week, Guinta’s three-time Democratic foe, former Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, called on Guinta to resign and said that she would run for the seat “if and when he steps down.” She would not say whether she would run for the seat next year, whether Guinta seeks reelection or does not.